Report: Hulk Hogan Didn’t Have To Endorse Or Put Over Any Talent in TNA Exit

In what was an awkward final segment in last night’s TNA Impact Wrestling, Hulk Hogan quit TNA. In a segment with TNA Owner Dixie Carter, she left Hogan with an ultimatum telling she can join him in Team Dixie or Hogan can suffer the consequences. Hogan decided to quit and Carter begged Hogan to stay and even got on the ground and grabbed his leg, with Hogan dragging her.

A lot of people have been very critical of the angle as it was very awkward and basically made Carter look bad in the process. We now know why the segment was like that. We had reported a few weeks ago that Hogan’s contract was set to expire on Tuesday.

The Wrestling Observer reported the reason the segment came off like that was due to the fact that Hogan had creative control in his contract. The only exit Hogan would do is where he left on his own, without endorsing anyone, putting anyone over or TNA even ridiculing or burying him on the way out.

Hogan has had creative control in his contracts since his days in WCW. That clause played a notable role in the finish with his match with Sting at Starrcade in 1997 and his match with Shawn Michaels in 2005.

TNA and Hogan are discussing a new contract, but at a reduced price. Hogan was making a reported $35,000 per appearance for 30 appearances a year. It is unknown at this time whether the WWE and Hogan have been negotiating. With Hogan being a centerpiece of the WWE 2K 14 video game coming out at the end of the month and WrestleMania 30 in six months, that would be an assumed possibility as well.

About Steve Muehlhausen

Steven was a featured UFC columnist for Bleacher Report and a writer for MMASucka.com. He was also the host of the MMA show "The Fight Club Chicago" which aired for three years at various websites. You can email Steve at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com.